Willis r



(No Model.)

W. R. AUSTIN 8vW. N.-GRAW.

' TOY.

No. 536,176. Patented Mar. 26, 1895'.

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' UNITED STATES,

PATENT OFFICEg,

WILLIs R. AUSTIN AND WILLIAM N. ORAW, OF SOUTHNORWALK,

CONNECTICUT.

- TOY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 536,176, dated March 26, 1895.

Application filed August 17,1894. semi No. 520.547. (No model.)

T0 aZZ whom it may concern-v Be it known that we, WILLIS R. AUSTIN and WILLIAM N. ORAW, citizens of the United States, residing at South Norwalk, in the county of Fairfield and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Toys; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

Our invention has for its object to provide a toy which shall be a mechanical reproduction of the socalled African Dodger entertainment common at fairs, summer resorts, &c. I

The essential features of said toy consistof an effigy, which may bea representation of an African or any other person and which is carried by a flexible spring, a screen having an opening in which the effigy appears, a gong behind the effigy and a return ball adapted when released to strike the efligy and move it backward so that it will strike the gong and sound it. The parts are all removable so that they may be laid in a suitable box crease and packed in small compass, and when required for use the toy can be quickly assembled.

In the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification:-Figure l is a front elevation of our novel toy complete, the ball being shown as drawn backward in position to be released as in use, and Fig. 2 is a central longitudinal section.

1 denotes a suitable box or case which is preferably made of wood and which is provided on its inner side with blocks 2 which are provided with holes to receive rods which carry the severalparts of the toy.

3 denotes the effigy which is a head and is' preferably cast in metal.

This head is carried at the upper end of a suitable spring 4;.

Either a flat spring or a coil spring may be used. We preferably use a coil spring, as shown in the drawings, the lower end of which is secured to a standardwhich is itself detachably secured to the bottom of the box or case. Back of the effigy and in position to be struck thereby when the latter is forced backward is a gong 6 carried by a rod7 which engages one of the blocks 2. 8 is a screen also carried by rods 7, in the present instance a continuous wire the ends of which engage Blocks 2 on opposite sides of the box or case. This screen is provided with a central opening 9 through which the efiigy appears, the efiigy preferably projecting through the opening so as to aiford an excellent mark for the ball to be discharged at.

10 denotes a yoke the ends of which engage blocks 2 at the end of the case opposite to the effigy. At the top of the yoke is attached a strong elastic cord 11 at the free end of which is a ball 12 preferably of rubber so as not to bruise the effigy when it strikes it.

The operation is simply to draw back the ball stretching the cord as indicated in Fig. 2 and then having taken aim at the effigy through theyoke to release the ball allowing the cord to propel it forward so that it will strike the efiigy, provided the aim has been sufficiently correct. When the effigy is struck fairly by the ball it will be forced backward quickly and will strike the gong a vigorous blow. After the effigy has been struck spring 4 causes it to promptly resume its normal position at the opening in the screen ready for the operator to makeanother shot.

It will of course be apparent that the various details of construction may be greatly varied without departing from the principle of our invention- For example a row of heads may be placed above the screen as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1 thus giving the operator an opportunity totest his skill by selecting any special head and hitting it with the ball, aiming in this instance above the yoke instead of through it.

Having thus described our invention, we clain1- A toy consisting of a suitable box or case having blocks'on its inner side, a screen provided with an opening and detachably secured to said blocks, an effigy, a spring acting to hold said effigy at the opening in the screen a gong back of the effigy, and a return ball which when correctly aimed will knock the effigy away from the opening and cause it to strike the gong. a

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

' WILLIS R. AUSTIN.

WM. N. ORAW.

Witnesses:

STANLEY RAYMOND,

SAMUEL RANDALL. 

